Afghanistan and me

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Afghanistan reaches a turning point with American troops leaving the country, BBC Pashto presenter Sana Safi tells the story of how her own life has been intertwined with the fate of her country. She tells the story of what it was like for a child to survive in a country caught between the crosshairs of geopolitical conflict, of surviving religious fundamentalism, of growing up in a country without music or books. She describes how violence and conflict forced her family to move from Kandahar to Helmand, only to find themselves caught in the crossfire of a gun battle. How under Taliban rule she effectively became a prisoner in her own home. How the continuing decades of conflict brought tragedy to her own family – and how she could only find security by moving to the UK, where she suffered the pain of separation from her family and homeland.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Lisa Douset from the BBC World Service. I've been reporting from Afghanistan for more than 30 years.
0:07.0	The Americans are now out, the Taliban in. How did we get here? What happens next? Our podcast, A Wish for Afghanistan, may be able to help.
0:17.0	Search for a Wish for Afghanistan wherever you get your podcasts.
0:29.0	You're listening to the BBC World Service. My name is San Asafi and this is Afghanistan and me.
0:36.0	What you're about to hear contains distressing material that some of you may find disturbing.
0:43.0	of you may find disturbing. 1989 has gone down in history as the year that shaped the modern world.
0:49.0	From the Berlin Wall specifically, take a look at them, they've been there since last night.
0:52.0	The fall of communism we drew borders and led the way for unity in the West.
0:57.6	How do you measure such an astonishing moment in history?
1:01.3	It also brought about the end of a brutal and bloody war in my family's country.
1:07.0	This is the final humiliation in Moscow's retreat from Kabul.
1:10.0	But instead of bringing peace...
1:11.0	The D'Hegmatia's forces are fighting back,
1:14.4	he's refused to join the interim Madjahide government.
1:17.3	It created more conflict, and led to the rise of a group
1:22.2	we know today as the Taliban.
1:24.3	The battle for Kabul was short but savage.
1:27.0	The Taliban had been repulsed twice before, but this time it was a route.
1:31.6	This was a regime that ruled the country with an iron fist.
1:35.6	Women are not seen unless covered from head to toe,
1:38.2	and men have been told to grow beards.
1:40.7	Until another momentous day in world history changed everything.
	...

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